Sacramento River

Fourth National Climate Assessment Chapter 25: Southwest

U.S. Global Change Research Program | November 23rd, 2018

The Southwest region encompasses diverse ecosystems, cultures, and economies, reflecting a broad range of climateconditions, including the hottest and driest climate in t

The Southwest region encompasses diverse ecosystems, cultures, and economies, reflecting a broad range of climateconditions, including the hottest and driest climate in the United States. Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah occupy one-fifth of U.S. land area, extending across globally unique ecosystems from the Sonoran Desert to the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific Coast. The region is home to 60 million people, with 9 out of 10 living in urban areas and the total population growing 30% faster than the national average. The Nation depends on the region for more than half of its specialty crops such as fruits, nuts, and vegetables. The Southwest also drives the U.S. technology sector, with more than 80% of the country’s technology capitalization located in California. Click here for all chapters of the Fourth National Climate Assessment.

Fourth National Climate Assessment Chapter 3: Water

U.S. Global Change Research Program | November 23rd, 2018

Significant changes in water quantity and quality are evident across the country. These changes, which are expected to persist, present an ongoing risk to coupled human

Significant changes in water quantity and quality are evident across the country. These changes, which are expected to persist, present an ongoing risk to coupled human and natural systems and related ecosystem services. Variable precipitation and rising temperature are intensifying droughts, increasing heavy downpours, and reducing snowpack. Reduced snow-to-rain ratios are leading to significant differences between the timing of water supply and demand. Groundwater depletion is exacerbating drought risk. Surface water quality is declining as water temperature increases and more frequent high-intensity rainfall events mobilize pollutants such as sediments and nutrients. Click here for the text of the full report.

Framework to Coordinate Water Quality Improvement and Wildlife Habitat Conservation to Protect California Streams, Wetlands and Riparian Areas

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | February 1st, 2016

The emergence of comparable landscape approaches to wildlife conservation and water quality improvement through federal and California state regulatory and management pr

The emergence of comparable landscape approaches to wildlife conservation and water quality improvement through federal and California state regulatory and management programs provides an opportunity for their coordination to better protect California’s aquatic resources, especially streams, wetlands, and riparian areas. Such coordination is patently desirable. A framework has been developed to help coordinate restoration and compensatory mitigation across policies governing wildlife conservation and water quality in the landscape context. The framework is based on the Wetland and Riparian Area Monitoring Plan (WRAMP) of the California Wetland Monitoring Workgroup (CWMW) of the Water Quality Monitoring Council. The framework presented here is a version of the standard WRAMP framework. It only differs from the standard framework to better accommodate wildlife conservation planning, assessment and reporting. To distinguish this version from the standard version, it is termed theWRAMP for wildlife (WRAMPw).

Franks Tract Futures

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | April 26th, 2022

Frequently Asked Questions Related to the CASGEM Program

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 21st, 2023

Since 2009, the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) Program has tracked seasonal and long-term groundwater elevation trends in groundwater basi

Since 2009, the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) Program has tracked seasonal and long-term groundwater elevation trends in groundwater basins statewide. The program’s mission is to establish a permanent, locally-managed program of regular and systematic monitoring in all of California's alluvial groundwater basins. Senate Bill x7-6, passed by the legislature in 2009, established collaboration between local monitoring parties and DWR to collect statewide groundwater elevations, to be made available to the public. In response to the law, we developed the CASGEM program. Collecting and evaluating these groundwater data on a statewide scale is a fundamental step toward improving management of California's groundwater resources. The CASGEM program relies and builds upon the many previously established local long-term groundwater monitoring and management programs. Click here for the CASEGEM Data and Resources directory from the Department of Water Resources.

Fresh Submarine Groundwater Discharge to the Near‐Global Coast

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | April 24th, 2019

Abstract: The flow of fresh groundwater to the ocean through the coast (fresh submarine groundwater discharge or fresh SGD) plays an important role in global biogeochemic

Abstract: The flow of fresh groundwater to the ocean through the coast (fresh submarine groundwater discharge or fresh SGD) plays an important role in global biogeochemical cycles and coastal water quality. In addition to delivering dissolved elements from land to sea, fresh SGD forms a natural barrier against salinization of coastal aquifers. Here we estimate groundwater discharge rates through the near‐global coast (60°N to 60°S) at high resolution using a water budget approach. We find that tropical coasts export more than 56% of all fresh SGD, while midlatitude arid regions export only 10%. Fresh SGD rates from tectonically active margins (coastlines along tectonic plate boundaries) are also significantly greater than passive margins, where most field studies have been focused. Active margins combine rapid uplift and weathering with high rates of fresh SGD and may therefore host exceptionally large groundwater‐borne solute fluxes to the coast. Plain Language Summary: Fresh groundwater flows from land to sea through coastal rocks and sediment. While the amount of groundwater flow is small compared with rivers, it plays an important role in carrying dissolved chemicals like nutrients to sea, and it helps protect aquifers against salinization. We estimate groundwater flow through the near‐global coast. Tropical regions have more groundwater flow, while dry midlatitudes have less. Dry midlatitude regions are therefore more vulnerable to salinization, which is problematic because these regions are also more likely to depend on groundwater to meet their water needs. Additionally, mountainous coastlines along tectonic plate boundaries have relatively large rates of groundwater discharge and may be associated with higher dissolved chemical fluxes to the coast.

Friant Division Central Valley Project

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | January 4th, 1994

Water is life the cliché goes, but in California, the reality is water is power. The Eureka State is blessed with warm days and productive soil, but deprived of enough w

Water is life the cliché goes, but in California, the reality is water is power. The Eureka State is blessed with warm days and productive soil, but deprived of enough water to go around. The pursuit of the power conferred by the water flowing in its rivers, and bubbling up from underground, is a much more complicated part of the Central Valley Project (CVP) than authorization, design, and construction. An anomaly in the CVP's labyrinthine history, the Friant Division developed along lines similar to other Reclamation projects in the West. One of three original segments of the CVP, the Friant Division, is separate, simple in design, but has seen it share of the same kinds of controversy plaguing the rest of the project. In spite of the disputes Friant generated, of the top five agricultural producing counties in the nation, three -- Fresno, Tulare and Kern -- are watered by Friant Division facilities. The clear sky, fertile land, and dry air of the southern San Joaquin Valley provide the backdrop where great promises have been met and modest hopes destroyed all in order to create "the richest agricultural region in the history of the world."

Friends of the Earth v. Coleman

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit | March 10th, 1975

Friends of the River v. Sites Project Authority

California Courts of Appeal, Third Appellate District | September 20th, 2024

From Climate Traces to Climate Insights: Future Scenarios Analysis for the California Central Valley

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 2nd, 2023

California Water Code Section 10004.6 requires the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to quantify current and future water conditions in the state. This infor

California Water Code Section 10004.6 requires the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to quantify current and future water conditions in the state. This information is published in the California Water Plan (Water Plan), which is updated every five years. Water managers and planners constantly face the challenges of planning for an uncertain future where the only constant is change. To address the potential future changes and mitigate the probable risks, water managers must consider and quantify uncertainties and their impacts on water system vulnerability. Although it is not possible to know for certain how population growth, land use decisions, climate, and other factors change over time, water planners must consider these system stressors in long-term planning to evaluate future risks and uncertainty. The Water Plan evaluates many alternative future scenarios as an integral part of its analytical approach to quantify system vulnerability under a range of population and urban growth scenarios, land use, and climate uncertainties.